Click to play videoNew Delhi: India's space programme suffered a serious setback on Saturday evening when a Communication Satellite launched from Sriharikota exploded mid-air. It was the second satellite failure in six months. Scientists are divided, but the bigger worry is: What will happen to India's moon mission?
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle was launched with high hopes by the ISRO scientists. However, 47 seconds later hope turned into horror as the onboard computer lost control of the actuation system. Back at the base in Sriharikota, scientists had no option but to press the self-destruct button to abort the ill-fated flight.
But ISRO does not label this is as a catastrophe. Former ISRO Chairman Dr K Kasturirangan believes that this failure should not be a cause of concern.
There are others who beg to differ. The satellite the rocket was carrying was to be used in telemedicine, telecom & weather services, and TV.
“It's a major setback and it takes us back to one or two years as we have to start the entire thing once again”, said Dr CB Devgan, Director, SPACE.
The launch failure also comes as a big blow to ISRO's loftier ambitions - such as the moon mission. The failure of two GSLVs in a span of eight months is a cause of worry for the scientists at ISRO given the fact that it is going to be the launch vehicle for Chandrayaan-II in 2013.
On April 15th, the GSLV-D3 launch carrying an indigenous cryogenic engine failed. All in all, only two GSLVs out of seven launches have been successful. Clearly, there is a ghost in the machine for ISRO.
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